Alife NYC Fall/Winter 2008 Footwear

The new Alife NYC Fall/Winter 2008 collection is out. Alife introduces some new models offering both colorful and loud styles, as well as more subtle, high end looking shoes.

available at Flauge. knowledge via hypebeast.

Artist Alters Keith Haring Mural As Part Of Legal Dispute

JERICHO PARMS
ARTS BRIEF: WRITING ON THE WALL

At first glance, you might not realize the Keith Haring mural on Houston Street at Bowery had recently been bombed. “I walk by that spot all the time, and just the other day I noticed the new paint,” commented Jed Silverman, a nearby resident.

Anyone aware of the local graffiti writers or the history of the neighborhood’s art scene might recognize the style and scrawled letters of LA Rock (also known as LAII)—the signature tag of Angel Ortiz, a street artist from the Lower East Side whose flurry of added lines fit right into the piece. This telling detail begs the question: Was this an act of vandalism or a renegade artist’s statement revealed?

For those unfamiliar with the mural in question, it is the recreation of Haring’s Houston Street and Bowery mural, painted by Gotham Scenic and based on extensive photographic documentation of Haring’s original piece. It was unveiled on May 4, what would have been the artist’s 50th birthday.

Ortiz’s involvement with the artist can be traced back to the summer of 1980 when, at 13 years old, he met the 22-year-old Haring in a Lower East Side schoolyard, working on a wall.

Their partnership lasted nearly six years, during which the two often met in Haring’s Broome Street studio, producing hundreds of pieces of art. Their signature styles mingled on canvas, pieces of metal and found urban surfaces, and were hung in joint shows in New York, Tokyo and Europe.

In the years that followed their collaborations, Haring became a cultural icon while Ortiz struggled to navigate the art world on his own. Frustrated, Ortiz contends that the Haring Foundation accrues millions from sales, licensing, and exhibition of Haring pieces, including many of their collaborations, yet largely ignores Ortiz’s role in the timeline of Haring’s work. Nonetheless, Ortiz bears witness to his own past, scrawling his name on the slabs of urban history, for anyone who will take notice. “I saw LA Rock up there,” Silverman remarks, pointing out the familiar tag. “Then I knew it was the real deal.”

Is Ortiz to Haring what Basquiat was to Warhol? History has yet to confirm. “Keith is dead, but LAII is alive and maintaining,” explained Clayton Patterson, who was on the scene with Ortiz to document the event. “So we took over the wall today. It’s a long story…but they hooked it up.”

World Without Strangers Tee Project

With the Olympics happening in China, fashion lifestyle brand Giordano has recently invited 12 artists from around the globe to participate on their latest project called “World Without Stranger - Giordano Tee Project.”

This collection consists of 16 printed t-shirt design for both genders that are created around the theme “World Without Strangers” that duly echoes this year’s Olympic Games 2008 slogan - “One World, One Dream.”

Featuring works by Phunk Studio, Saiman Chow, Benny Luk, Rex Koo, and more.

Via: Tongue Chic

Szajka Figures

An interesting creation coming out of a small Poland company called Szajka. This unique toy company steps up with these traditional Polish ceramic figures. This set of 9 pieces stand at 3 inches tall and will be available from Warszawska Nike store in the not to far future.

FRANC VILA SUPERLIGERO SKELETON TOURBILLON

The Franc Superligero Skeleton Tourbillon merges design with new materials.

Franc Vila experimented with new materials for this watch – Lightnium.

Trexi S3 - Rotofugi Sale

Rotofugi is having a Trexi S3 sale until Aug 10th. Normally $6.95, now $3.00. Go get 'em here!

Topper x Jun Watanabe

Jun Watanabe worked with Topper on a series of sneakers. The pack consists of a high top canvas sneakers and a slip-on. Both come with custom design in stencil style and are now available at Flauge.

as seen on hypebeast

$100M Caravaggio Stolen From Ukranian Museum

The Taking of Christ (Or, The Kiss of Judas), Caravaggio, 1573-1602

A painting by the master artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ (Or, The Kiss of Judas) was reported stolen from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art in the Ukraine. Thieves were able to sidestep the outdated alarm system, and escape through the museum’s roof. Originally purchased by a Russian ambassador, the painting had come into the museum’s hands last century.

Caravaggio Stolen From Odessa Museum [Artinfo]
Caravaggio’s Christ Painting Stolen [Abc News]
Ukraine Laments Theft of a Caravaggio from museum [Reuters]
Caravaggio Work Stolen from Ukranian Museum (IHT)

The thieves evidently entered through a window with by removing a pane of glass in lieu of the traditional smashing thereby avoiding the alarm. The frame of the window itself was rotting and in ill-repair making the pane quite easy to remove. Upon entering the room with painting, the thieves proceeded to cut the painting from its canvas, rolling it and escaping through the roof. The robbery took place sometime between the museums close Tuesday evening and Thursday morning (the museum is closed on Wednesdays). Although the London auction houses neglected to estimate a price for the legendary piece, experts estimate it to be worth more than $100 million. A picture of the stripped canvas is above.

Originally the painting was purchased a Russian Ambassador to France as a gift to a Russian Prince. The painting was most recently restored in 2006 and a duplicate exists in the National Gallery of Ireland. Odessa Police had been urging the museum to upgrade their alarm system since the 1990’s.

New Macbook Sneak Peek?!?

We're eagerly awaiting Apple’s next-generation laptops, and if these spy shots are genuine, we’ve just been given a sneak peek at them!

They purport to show the back of the new laptop’s lid, and the screen housing (without the LCD screen in place.

Falling into line with recent rumours, the new design is made out of aluminium, and looks very smooth indeed, if a little chubbier than we’d imagined.

What’s notable, is that the shell clearly carries the name “MacBook” rather than MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, falling in line with predictions of all-new aluminium notebooks that’ll match the Air and Pro models, but without the high price of the latter, or featherlight frame of the former.

There’s no sign of the rest of the body, however, so we’ve no idea if rumours of Apple’s plan to include glass trackpads is true.

Are they legit? Are they optimistic fakes?

BAPE - BABY MILO & PANDA, TIGER, SHARK T-SHIRTS

A Bathing Ape is introducing a new swing on it's "creatures" hoodies for Fall/Winter 2008.

These are graphics originally from their popular hoodies with the addition of the popular BAPE character Baby Milo.

Grey Lanvin's

via deadstockdon

Puma Rudolf Dassler Wellengang Mid

Puma’s Rudolf Dassler Wellengang Mid is obviously a fusion of 1970’s disco era and new millennium street flair. The result is an eye catching sneaker that feels simultaneously vintage and current. Puma has unveiled the new colorway of the Rudolf Dassler Wellengang Mid. The shoes boast a high, thick, beige sole, with vibrant and intentionally faded hues. The Gold looks aged next to the electric blue and gray giving it a faded copper coloring on the side of the sneaker. The classic white laces also give the sneakers a striking balance of colors. The Puma is now available at the overkillshop.

via hypebeast

Osomatsu Kun x Comme Des Garcons Derby

Comme Des Garcon has worked with famed manga artist Osomatsu Kun on their new Fall/Winter 2008 collection. The graphics by the artist decorate shirts, t-shirts as well as blazers and now also a pair of shoes - the Comme Des Garcons Derby. The shoe comes in a white low version and a grey mid version.

The shoes are now available in the Colette online store.

knowledge via highsnobiety.

ZOMBIE ZOMBIE Driving Clip

First non-official video clip made for Zombie Zombie, the electrifying French duo of Etienne Jaumet and Cosmic Neman. Directed by Simon Gesrel and Xavier Ehretsmann thanks to their favourite toys... the GI Joes ! The video is an hommage to the director AND soundtrack composer John Carpenter, especially one of his masterpieces : THE THING.

Hirst’s ‘Golden Calf’ could sell for $16-$24 million at Sotheby’s London

Sotheby’s in London has recently announced that Damien Hirst will be auctioning off a number of newly created works at the sale: ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ on September 15 and 16. The highlight of the sale is Hirst’s Golden Calf, which is an 18-carat gold encrusted bull submerged in a tank of formadehyde, is expected to sell for $16 to $24 million. This Sotheby’s sale is comprised exclusively of works made by Damien Hirst during the past two years.

Damien Hirst, The Golden Calf via TIME

The successful, brand-name artist, Damien Hirst, explained in a joint statement with Sotheby’s that “It’s a very democratic way to sell art…It feels like a natural evolution for contemporary art” (Bloomberg).

Damien Hirst, The Golden Calf via Bloomberg

There has been some speculation about how the galleries feel about being left out of the equation. Art Daily has quoted Larry Gagosian as saying “As Damien’s long-term gallery, we’ve come to expect the unexpected”.

Damien Hirst, For the Love of God via msnbc

Last year, Hirst made news with his platinum cast skull covered in 8,601 diamonds when it sold for $100 million. The star of this upcoming sale, The Golden Calf, wears a gold disc on its brow. This is recognized as the same symbol that adorned the brow of the Egyptian cow-deity, Hathor. Although her ancient influence is ambiguous, she is commonly known for being the goddess of love, music, art, and dance.

Converse 100th Anniversary Leather Jacket Chuck Taylor

One of the highlights of the 100th Anniversary from Converse is set for the release with the much anticipated Leather Jacket Chuck Taylor released August 1st at select locations. Based on vintage motorcycle jackets, the upper is a construction of patchworks with black anodized zippers and waxed laces. Only 168 pairs were made. A run of 12 pairs will be available at Hong Kong’s Juice with an exorbitant price (for any shoes let alone Chucks) of $2,999 HKD (approximately $384 USD).

via hypebeast

Damien Hirst - rewriting the rules of the market

Roger Bevan | 10.7.08 | Issue 193- The Art Newspaper

The final frontier protecting contemporary art galleries from the relentless encroachment of the auction houses has been emphatically breached with the announcement that Damien Hirst is creating an exhibition of new works for display and sale at the London headquarters of Sotheby’s.

The preview of “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”, as the exhibition is titled, will launch the new art market season on 5 September while the auction itself is scheduled to take place over two dates, 15 and 16 September, suggesting that a catalogue of at least 40 major works will be offered on the evening of the earlier date with an extended day session of more affordable material including smaller paintings, preparatory drawings and editioned objects to follow. Since the final selection of consignments has not yet been agreed, no value has been attached to the package but it promises to be a highly profitable occasion for Hirst and for the auction house which has established a close working relationship with the artist ever since it sold the residue of the Pharmacy restaurant on his behalf in 2004.

In addition to hosting “The Red Auction”, the season’s most fashionable charity event which was conceived by Hirst and Bono and took place in New York on 14 February 2008, Sotheby’s has turned out to be the room of choice whenever the artist acquires art at auction. Recent purchases include Francis Bacon’s small self-portrait which cost $33,081,000 at Sotheby’s New York on 14 November 2007 and a stainless steel statue by Jeff Koons for which Hirst paid £3,156,500 at Sotheby’s London on 27 February 2008.

The centrepiece of the auction will be The Golden Calf (estimated at £8m-£12m), a new natural history sculpture of a bull with a golden halo and gilded horns and hooves, which Sotheby’s contemporary art department regards as the most important work of his career besides The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, the famous sculpture of a tiger shark suspended in a tank of formaldehyde, which Greenwich hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen acquired in 2004 from Charles Saatchi for a price reported by the Saatchi Gallery as $12m.

Hirst is said to regard the step of offering new material at auction as a logical development in his career but the broader implications of his decision are profound. It is widely known that auction houses have courted the emerging markets of China and India. Leading names without a firm gallery representation in London or New York have been encouraged to consign works to its catalogues. Furthermore, artists such as Jeff Koons and David Hammons have, in exceptional circumstances, placed new or historic work in auctions in order to maximise value or circumvent a dealer obligation.

But Hirst has crossed the market’s Rubicon with a gambit which opens a new front for an admittedly very special situation: an artist with brand name recognition and a factory enterprise capable of producing a completely new series of seasonal variations to order. At a stroke, the judicious management of an artist’s career by an agent who identifies which favoured collectors will be permitted to acquire material in conditions of secrecy gives way to the triumph of the highest bidder on the public stage. Now that Damien has demolished the moral barrier of using auctions for distribution and profit, other artists will follow suit.

The artist’s regular dealerships, Gagosian Gallery and White Cube, will not like the development one little bit, but are obliged to support, or underwrite, it for the sake of their clients who have invested in Hirst’s career and for the continuity of their own relationships with the income stream which he provides. They will be bidding against each other for Damien’s attention as much as other prospective collectors will be bidding for themselves. Damien’s divide and conquer policy may prove to be one of his cleverest and most entertaining strategies to date.

Sarah Thornton | 17.7.08 | Issue 193 - The Art Newspaper

Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” sounds like the name of a new work by Damien Hirst, but it’s actually the title of his solo sale at Sotheby’s. The ambiguity is appropriate because Hirst’s rank as an artist is inextricably linked to his status as a headline commanding businessman who wields considerable power over the buying and selling of his own work.

The “Beautiful” auction raises many questions, including: Is Hirst sabotaging his own market? On several stands at Art Basel last month, new and vintage Hirst works remained unsold. Hirst’s studios are not only extremely efficient in keeping his official dealers well stocked with a good range of spot, spin, and butterfly paintings, but in making direct sales themselves. At a time when some gallerists are experiencing a minor slowdown, one dealer suspected the artist of orchestrating an “end-of-boom fire sale” to accommodate his alleged over-production.

True believers, however, see Hirst’s abundant serial output as essential to his oeuvre. Harry Blain, director of Haunch of Venison, whose back room is busy in the trade of Hirst works, explained: “Just as Warhol and Picasso were highly productive, it is an important aspect of Damien’s market that he is prolific. There need to be enough works in circulation to sustain the growing global demand.”

Are primary dealers becoming cuckolds? Sotheby’s Senior International Specialist Oliver Barker claims that the sale has “the wholehearted support of Damien’s dealers…who recognise his rulebreaking charisma.”

However, Jay Jopling, owner of White Cube, sounds a tad ambivalent. “8,601 flawless diamonds notwithstanding, ours has never been a traditional marriage,” he said in Sotheby’s press release, evoking the financial sacrifice his gallery made to coown Hirst’s diamond skull when it didn’t sell outright. One collector close to both Jopling and Gagosian told me, “I love Damien’s work, but his treatment of his business partners is abusive and selfish.”

Certainly many gallerists believe the auction is “a horrible precedent”. However, some view the sale as an almost philosophical event. As dealer-collector David Mugrabi explains, “It seems to be a game for Damien. He’s seeing if he can get away with murder, just as Duchamp did with his urinal.”

What are the strategies of the auction houses with regard to the primary market? Whilst Sotheby’s goes public with a straight-fromthe-studio sale and is rumoured to be courting Takashi Murakami, Christie’s buys the multi-location primary gallery Haunch of Venison.

According to Haunch’s director, “The two auction houses have entirely different approaches and relationships. Christie’s vision is more considered. It recognises the best interests of artists themselves. Damien is one of the few who could pull this off.”

Interestingly, Phillips de Pury aligns itself with Sotheby’s move as senior partner, Michaela Neumeister, asserts, “This Hirst sale would have been a perfect project for Phillips. It’s so fast-forward. We have been the crossover pioneers of morphing business models. Art is all about transforming and border testing, but the dealer logic has been very conservative.”

However, when artists become their own dealers, Dr Neumeister says, “I worry for their freedom and their peace of mind. It’s time consuming and distracting. That’s why it’s great Damien has his alter ego. Frank Dunphy [the artist’s business manager] is a genius.”

What will the auction contain? The answer to this question is the key to the success or failure of this high-risk event. With its solid gold eighteen-carat hooves and horns, The Golden Calf is either a decadent masterpiece or a derivative work targeting a nouveau billionaire. In the end, it is important to note that the sale is not guaranteed and to remember that Hirst’s personal collection is called “Murder Me”.

So, one must agree with Sotheby’s Oliver Barker when he declares, “Damien is totally fearless. He’s not just an outstanding artist, he’s a cultural phenomenon.”

Matthew Marks Gallery, Painting: Now and Forever, Part II, in New York through August 15

Installation View via Matthew Marks Gallery

Painting: Now and Forever, Part II remains on view through August 15 as a joint exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery, 522 West 22nd Street and Greene Naftali Gallery, 508 West 26th Street. The show is a reprisal of one held ten years ago, but from a different angle. The artists in the current show are Kai Althoff, Cosima von Bonin, Merlin Carpenter, Mathew Cerletty, Wojciech Fangor, Katharina Fritsch, Gelitin, Isa Genzken, Poul Gernes, Daan van Golden, Jack Goldstein, Rodney Graham, Wade Guyton, Richard Hawkins, Mary Heilmann, Sophie von Hellermann, Charline von Heyl, Ull Hohn, Sergej Jensen, Mike Kelley, Ellsworth Kelly, Karen Kilimnik, Martin Kippenberger, Michael Krebber, William Leavitt, Michel Majerus, Bjarne Melgaard, Laura Owens, Blinky Palermo, Stephen Prina, R.H. Quaytman, Ugo Rondinone, Paul Sharits, Josh Smith, Reena Spaulings, Lily van der Stokker, Atsuko Tanaka, Paul Thek, Anne Truitt, Kelley Walker, Christopher Wool, and Katharina Wulff.

Ryota Kuwakubo

Known as a "device artist", Ryota Kuwakubo . He focuses on electronics and produces work that lies on the boundary between digital and analog.

The Interactive Scape

The Interactive Scape is a much larger surface(58-inch x 30in) than Microsoft Surface(30-inch). It likes the Microsoft Surface, you can move, enlarge, whirl the things in this 1080p touchscreen with your fingers. It can also transfer data to the cellphone or other dvices using bluetooth and wireless interface. Other features 16:9 touch sreen, the color by Customer's Option.